ADM allowed to buy German Schokinag

U.S. food processing company Archer Daniels Midland won permission from the European Commission on Wednesday to buy three German chocolate makers collectively known as Schokinag-Schokolade-Industrie Herrmann. According to Reuters, the Commission, executive arm of the European Union, said in a statement that the proposed transaction would not lead to competition concerns and that a number of effective competitors were supplying the relevant products. The EU executive said it had examined the cocoa beans and semi-finished cocoa products market and found that ADM and Schokinag were not close competitors with respect to the range and types of products they offered. ADM said in January that it would buy Schokinag to expand its reach in the global cocoa and chocolate business. The company, one of the largest U.S. food processors and ethanol producers, did not give financial terms of the deal.